Ex-village chief killed, wife hurt by motorcycle-riding men in Bulacan

SAN RAFAEL, Bulacan – Motorcycle-riding men shot and killed a former village chairman, and wounded his wife on Friday morning (April 27).

Rodolfo Venturina, 77, former barangay (village) captain of Salapungan, and his wife Anabella Venturina, 75, were conversing in front of their house when they were attacked at 6:40 a.m., said , Bulacan police director Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat Jr. Anabella was hit by a stray bullet.

Venturina is the third village official to be killed on the run up to the May 14 village polls.

Earlier on Tuesday (April 24), Rodrigo Rodriguez, the outgoing village chair of Mabalas-balas here, was shot dead while buying rice in front of a store. The motorcycle used by the assailants had been recovered.

On April 1, Easter Sunday, Mabalas-balas councilman Jaime Vasallo, who is running for the post of village chair, was also shot dead.

Caramat said the police were assessing if San Rafael should be classified as an area of concern in the coming polls.